SCOTT WALDMAN for Politico : The federal government has designated an 81,000-acre area off of Long Island for possible commercial offshore wind development.
The move by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Wednesday to open the federal waters 11 miles off of New York to major wind development projects will be a significant boost to the Cuomo administration’s aggressive climate policies. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will now conduct an environmental assessment, with a possible sale of leases to follow.
“New York has tremendous offshore wind potential, and today's milestone marks another important step in the President's strategy to tap clean, renewable energy from the Nation’s vast wind and solar resources,” U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said in a statement. “We will continue to work with the State and local stakeholders through a collaborative effort as we determine what places have the highest potential and lowest conflict to harness the enormous wind energy potential off the Atlantic seaboard.” Cont'd...

The Gasification and Syngas Technologies Council (GSTC) has announced a special offer for new members: Join this year and get next year's membership for free.
GSTC, the world's premier trade association for the syngas and gasification industries, is making the exclusive offer available on both levels of its membership.

Solar panel prices continue the downtrend this week, due to sluggish global demand. In China, solar panel prices are facing the obvious price reduction, since solar demand is weakening. Moreover, the traditional rush installation in Japan and India are heading the end in March, so major solar panel buyers are now reducing their procurement sharply. The slow demand pressurizes the solar panel prices in these regions. Moreover, with more trade-friendly capacities available, Chinese module makers now can strengthen their market share in the U.S and the EU by offering more competitive prices.

The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors approved a lease agreement with Controlled Thermal Resources today that will allow for the development of a new centralized geothermal power plant in the Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resource Area located in Southern California.

Jethro Mullen for CNN: Fed up with their hefty electricity bill, managers at Cochin International Airport in southern India took matters into their own hands.
Three years ago, they began adding solar panels -- first on the roof of the arrivals terminal, then on and around an aircraft hangar. The success of those initial efforts led to a much bigger endeavor.
"We wanted to be independent of the electricity utility grid," Jose Thomas, the airport's general manager, told CNNMoney.
Last year, the airport commissioned the German company Bosch to build a vast 45-acre solar plant on unused land near the international cargo terminal.
The plant came online in August, making Cochin the world's first fully solar-powered airport.
The tens of thousands of panels generate on average slightly more than the roughly 48,000-50,000 kilowatts of power that the airport -- the seventh busiest in India -- uses per day, according to Thomas. Surplus energy is fed into the wider electricity grid.
The big project cost around 620 million rupees ($9.3 million), a sum the airport expects to save in less than six years by not having to pay electricity bills anymore. It also estimates the solar plant will avoid more than 300,000 metric tons of carbon emissions from coal power over the next 25 years. Cont'd...

Following is a statement from Sean Gallagher, vice president of state affairs for the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), applauding 100 members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for writing House leadership in support of legislation to assure strong net energy metering policies:

The role of geothermal energy in district heating - while continuously underestimated - could play a tremendously important role for the energy security and an efficient and affordable heating future of Europe.

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